Works in progress

I have had trouble uploading pictures to my blog, so this post has none! A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Well, I promise not to go on that long, but want to tell you about what's going on in the studio.

Works in progress. I have taken a few classes this Spring, which has left me with several dolls to finish. I get held up on this quite often. There's the feeling of accomplishment when I take a class. I gaze at the partially complete work and try to picture it finished. Then the next class arrives and I set that one aside. Then there's inspiration striking. I found this neat little shelf and could picture a doll sitting on it. So, I began an armature....delaying the completing of work once again. Also adding one more doll to the number. of pieces to complete.

Discipline is required! One or two need supplies I don't have and I haven't had time to shop for, so those must wait. Today was a perfect day for Paverpol, so that doll got a few layers. I'm developing my own approach to Paverpol. Taking the piece forward in stages, then letting it dry, helps make the whole thing more manageable. I find working through the real goopy stage hard to manage. It's absorbing the techniques once again, then makinjg them your own. That's what is happening here.

It's a rainy weekend, so gardening is out, doll finishing is in! I plan to move three dolls ahead by one stage each. It's a system I use and find effective, as each piece  begins to approach completion. I'm not left looking at dolls with no progress on them. So tomorrow, a flat doll gets beads and shoes, the Paverpol piece gets another section done and left to dry and the Marquis gets some pants.

Another reason class dolls don't get finished is that I cannot sell them as original work. It's confusing to the public, for one thing. Some people take a class doll and sell it as their own, which I cannot do. Dolls made from the techniques learned and used later, well those take on my own style and become my work entirely. It's an important distinction.

Does anyone else suffer from unfinished class work? Sometimes it's about the process, not the product. But still, those unfinished dolls will bug me until I get back tot them. One stage at a time...

Wish me luck!